“Shining Stars” Dance Program spreads inspiration to Orange County’s Children

IRVINE, Calif. (July 28th, 2016) - Leaping back into action this summer, the “Shining Stars” Dance Organization will hold its 2016 Summer Dance Program from August 15th-20th on the UC Irvine campus. 100 young children will partake in this student and alumni produced program that bridges the gaps between Orange County’s underserved communities and access to the arts in higher educational institutions.

Just as “Shining Stars” accomplished last year in the first ever program of its kind for children ages 5-12 years old, the 2016 program participants will receive a week of physical dance training in jazz, hip hop, tap and ballet in a program that takes place on the UC Irvine campus. They were also introduced to academic ideas and critical issues, such as positive body image, improvisation, dances from other parts of the world, careers in dance, and dance as a subject of studyRead More: “Shining Stars” Dance Program spreads inspiration to Orange County’s Children

Irvine, Calif., July 6, 2016 – Celebrated international artistic director and choreographer Lar Lubovitch has joined the dance department at the University of California, Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts as a Distinguished Professor.

Founder and artistic director of the New York-based Lar Lubovitch Dance Company for 48 years, he has produced more than 100 dances, and his company has performed in nearly all 50 U.S. states and over 40 countries. Lubovitch has been hailed as “one of the 10 best choreographers in the world” by The New York Times, a “national treasure” by Variety and among America’s “irreplaceable dance treasures” by the Dance Heritage Coalition.

Stephen Barker to serve as dean of UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts. In interim role, he fostered faculty diversity, arts/sciences collaboration and outreach.

Irvine, Calif., July 5, 2016 – Drama professor Stephen Barker has been appointed dean of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine. Serving as interim dean since September 2014, Barker has ushered the school into a new era of excellence, fostering faculty diversity and interdisciplinary collaboration between arts and sciences and working diligently to ensure that UCI continues to be a hub of Orange County arts and culture.

“I’m very pleased to be able to make this announcement,” said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. “Stephen Barker really understands the university’s role in preparing our students for success in their chosen fields; in engaging the community in our dramatic, musical and visual arts; and in helping to introduce our students toRead More: Stephen Barker named dean of UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts

...a groundbreaking audience experience designed to invoke empathy, well-being and joy that transcends barriers between movement and sound, performers and viewers , life and art.

JazzXchange, led by Artistic Director and Associate Professor of Dance Sheron Wray, debuts at the Camino Playhouse in San Juan Capistrano on June 23, 2016, at 8 pm. JazzXchange is an Orange County Arts organization that exists to use the principles of jazz performance to empower communities and celebrate innovation.

Jazz is a process of creation which embraces differences melded together through a commitment to swing into time. It has always represented a multitude of nationalities that make up the United States and this JazzXchange performance embodies exactly this idea. Visibly, artists from different ethnicities create together. Envision a nation without division--this isRead More: Jazz: The House That America Built

The most ferocious sound in the room at the David H. Koch Theater was coming from an 85-year-old man in a wheelchair. But the years melted away as that man — Donald McKayle, the modern dance and Broadway choreographer known for exploring African-American themes in his work — watched a recent rehearsal of “Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder,” his 1959 masterwork about life on a chain gang, with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company…